Sunday, November 1, 2009

Shoo-be-doo-be-doo ... be-doo

Some people strive to be singers and start out as Backup Singers. Genealogists strive to have backed-up data (soured and cited) and know the first step is to have Backup Data.

Today is Data Back Up Day. It is one thing to have a wealth of data of any type; it is quite another to lose all that data because of a system failure, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event affecting your computer. Potential loss of data can be avoided simply by having a back-up of your computer. It isn't enough, either, to back up your computer once and forget about it. Any new data introduced since the backup would still be lost. Now I don't know about you, but if I lost the new data I have on my computer since January 1, 2009 I would be lost. I might even be discouraged enough to just give up. So backups should be done often. My workplace backs up daily. I would be well-behooved to do so monthly. Geneabloggers is the guru of such knowledge, and he says to do so monthly and reminds us Geneabloggers to do so on the first of every month. So it's high time I listen to the almighty techno-guru!

The last back up I have is on a thumb drive. I don't even quite know where the drive is right now. So what good does it do?

So I am considering my options. I could back up using my CD/DVD drives. But that would be rather burdensome, and CD and DVD discs don't last forever, and they would add to my clutter.

I'm considering online storage sites, but have two problems: I don't know any reliable ones that are either free or cheap. I'd hate to spend money on "renting" storage space. Ultimately, my goal is to get an external hard drive. But, even though they are more affordable, I don't have extra money to spare at the moment, and I don't have the patience to learn how to use one. Maybe Santa will be good to me!

While I'm waiting for the external hard drive, which option should I choose? Any suggestions for trustworthy, reliable online storage sites? What concerns/precautions do I need to implement to protect sensitive data? Should I back up sensitive data on CD's/DVD's and only put less sensitive data on an online site? Input, please!

2 comments:

Hi, Colleen, I've used www.mozy.com for a year or two for backup storage of my genealogy files. They offer up to 2 GB of internet storage for free. A good deal! However, after a non-fatal glitch in my external hard drive back up, I decided to subscribe to unlimited storage on Mozy.com and have all my stuff up there (including Lots of photos). I think the cost is reasonable for the peace of mind. It took one week for the initial upload of my 40 GB. I just let the computer run and hoped for the best, and I think everything is fine. Good luck:-) Donna

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